1 Mixed reviews for Mac compatibility
As a widescreen monitor for a Mac G5, this is a nice alternative to Apple's pricey displays. The widescreen offers a very appealing way to work, and the price of the monitor has come down to the point where it's not too much of a luxury item compared to conventional LCD monitors of a similar size.
One problem I've encountered is that you cannot use it to option-select a boot partition on the Mac if you're connected via DVI. The screen will simply never get a signal and will go to sleep. Curiously, this feature does work if you connect via VGA. I worked this as a bug report with Apple and they've tossed the ball into Samsung's court. Obviously, it's not getting fixed in existing hardware.
Also, there's plenty of room for speakers, but the sound offered by this monitor is pretty poor - there's utterly no low end, and the provided Dolby Virtual Surround and "BBE Digital" features only make music and movies sound worse. If you have the desk space and another free outlet, you might want to budget for some decent speakers.
2 GOOD LOOKING !!!
LCD monitors have advantages like crisp vibrant colors and great contrast, easy on the eyes and their low power consumption coupled with non existent radiation emission.
I replaced a Samsung 170MP with this 173MW newer series LCD monitor and as the former it is a multifunction type. The looks are like higher end LCDs -sleek and elegant with a silver bezel.
The 173MW is quite heavy and beware the height of the display cannot be adjusted.
It can be mounted on a wall and has various inputs like VGA, DVI, SVIDEO, RCAs, cable coaxial, stereo line-in and also component in. As with other Samsung LCD monitors it is hard to see and reach the connectors-careful while connecting the inputs by resting on its face-it has a fragile face!. There is a plastic cover that hides the connectors
It has Dual CPU inputs (Ability to hook two separate computers to one monitor.), audio quality from the built-in speakers is mediocre and anything with high bass or extreme volume levels causes distortion. On added advantage are the connectors on the right side of the back panel-easy access connections for your camcorder, digital camera or other audio/video peripherals
If by any chance the screen is misaligned or just doesn't look right just press the "Auto" button to have the monitor completely set itself up perfectly. Make sure you install the included drivers or you won't be able to set the widescreen resolution properly.
One of the monitor's interesting characteristics is the PIP capability. With a press of a button you can be viewing two sources simultaneously and something catches your eye in the smaller window, you can swap the picture to check it out.
The OSD (onscreen display) menu is excellent and of good resolution and easy to navigate.
The 1280x768 resolution is definitely better than 1024x768; however note that it has this 16:9 format which can be a concern for people who are involved in desktop publishing but good for programmers and people who use multiple windows simultaneously.
- Great Quality, finish and Good Looks, average Sound Quality, Low Power Consumption, small Footprint on the workspace table with excellent video performance when connected to a computer, average on games and TV when inputted from a cable TV source..
